The Canalway Trail System offers hundreds of miles of scenic trails and numerous parks for walking, bicycling, cross country skiing, and other recreational activities along the New York State Canal System, which includes the historic Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca Canals and spans 524 miles across New York State, linking the Hudson River with Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara River, and Lake Erie. Built through cooperative efforts by the New York State Canal Corporation, volunteers, local governments, and federal and state agencies, the trail network was intended for broad public use and, when completed, was to extend over 500 miles and connect numerous cities, towns, and villages, making it one of the most extensive trail networks in the country. Along the Erie Canal in upstate New York, the waterway crossed rich farmland and helped agriculture become New York's largest industry by allowing Orleans County farmers to ship produce to distant markets, while coopers made the wooden barrels used for transport from oak staves bound with wood or iron hoops. Knowlesville, named for early settler William Knowles, began with only a warehouse and general store but grew into a thriving community and important Erie Canal stop, became known for having the best coopers along the canal, and sent apple-packed barrels as far away as Africa.
